Audio 3:53
Sixteen-year-old New Zealand musical prodigy Lorde hits number one in the US

Lucy CarterUpdated
Thu 3 Oct 2013, 7:46 PM AEST

At just 16, Ella Yellich-O'Connor, or Lorde, has become the first New Zealand singer to go to number one on the US billboard charts. Music industry experts say changing methods of music distribution mean it's getting easier for Australian and New Zealand artists to make it in America.

Even though she's just hit number one on the US Billboard chart at the age of only 16, no-one's suggesting that the New Zealand singer-songwriter is anything less than authentic.

Today Kiwis from the New Zealand prime minister, John Key, to the Crowded House frontman, Neil Finn, have been congratulating Lorde on Twitter.

Lucy Carter reports.

(Sound of Lorde singing 'Royals')

LORDE (singing): I've never seen a diamond in the flesh...

LUCY CARTER: It's hard to believe, but that voice belongs to a 16-year-old.

LORDE (singing): I cut my teeth on wedding rings in the movies...

LUCY CARTER: The song is Royals and it's taken the US by surprise, smashing some very long-standing records.

Lorde, or Ella Yellich-O'Connor to her friends, is the youngest singer to sit at the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 in 26 years.

LUCY CARTER: Royals has also spent six weeks at number one on the US Alternative Chart, the longest stretch at the top for any female artist in history.

LORDE (singing): We don't care, we aren't caught up in your love affair/And we'll never be royals/It don't run in our blood...

LUCY CARTER: Ella Yellich O'Connor was spotted at her Auckland school's talent competition when she was 12. She was then signed by major music label Universal at 13.

Earlier this year she spoke with Triple J's Tom and Alex about her development as an artist.

ELLA YELICH-O'CONNOR: Well, basically I've been involved with my record company since I was, like you said, 12 or 13. Just on development and, you know, having singing lessons and writing with different people, kind of figuring it out and then, started writing with my producer, Joel, a couple of years ago. I think I was 15.

LUCY CARTER: She says her quick success has been difficult to comprehend.

ELLA YELICH-O'CONNOR: This is my first musical release. So I guess you never know how stuff's going to go. So I'm like, "Oh, yeah, cool! So this happens to everyone." You know? I feel like it's, like, real normal.

TOM OR ALEX (May): Yeah. Everyone gets signed when they're 12 and then...

ELLA YELICH-O'CONNOR: Shut up! (laughs)

LUCY CARTER: Triple J presenter Zan Rowe says it's refreshing to see someone like Lorde at the top of the charts.

ZAN ROWE: Her writing is incredibly mature for her age. She comes from a family of writers. I think her mother is a prize-winning poet in New Zealand and so she's obviously been brought up on a steady diet of really great literature.

She kind of has this great way of distilling what it means to be a teenager but in an incredibly mature way, which is sort of an oxymoronic thing to do within a pop song.

(Sound of Gotye singing Somebody That I Used to Know)

LUCY CARTER: Last year, Australian artist Gotye's duet with New Zealand-born singer Kimbra was a global smash hit. Somebody That I Used to Know went to number one in 23 countries, including the US.

Triple J's Zan Rowe says the success of Gotye and now Lorde is indicative of huge recent changes to the music industry.

ZAN ROWE: If you think about the way that music is distributed now, it's so easy to share. The first time I ever heard Lorde was a friend sending me a Soundcloud file of her online and saying, "Hey, check this out. I think you might dig this." And, of course, I did dig it. But it was before I heard it played on the radio at any time.

It's just the distribution of music has changed the way that Australian and New Zealand artists can succeed overseas now and those endless distances don't matter anymore.

LUCY CARTER: For now, Lorde is just lapping up praise from her prime minister and celebrities like Neil Finn and Jimmy Fallon - all this before she turns 17 next month.